discussion Jakko’s Sherman BARV

[Guest]

To test out my new iPad, I’ve taken some pictures of what I’ll be building for this GB

First up, the kits:

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An Asuka Sherman III plus the Resicast BARV conversion, and two of the idler wheels my brother 3D-printed for me recently.

In the Asuka kit, you get this:

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Plus instructions, of course, but those are on Scalemates so I’m not going to post them here. You also get several of some of these sprues, like those with the wheels and a few others, the track, etc.

If you look at these sprues, you can see there are a lot of alternative parts: no less than three complete sets of wheels (spoked, pressed-spoke and disc), for example, two different styles of bogie body, two noses, two guns and two gun mantlets, two stowage boxes for the turret rear, etc. There are also parts not actually for this variant, because the kit includes some sprues for a different one that you need a few parts of. But at least it’s not like Dragon where you get a ton more than this.

And most of this will go straight into the spares box … I only really need the lower hull, upper hull, suspension, and some detail parts. I wanted to save money by ordering only the sprues I really need straight from Asuka in Japan, but adding up the costs for them, plus the expected import duties, VAT, handling fees, etc. it would probably have been only slightly cheaper than buying this complete kit, plus it would likely have been a month or more before I would get it.

So, on to the conversion kit. I’m not going to take the parts from their bags, but this is what you get:

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Lots of small bits, with only a few larger ones, and the kit even includes decals.

 

[Jim R]

Front and centre please Jakko. There's a lot in that ResiCast set. I notice it's for a Tasca Sherman so might there be some fit issues? Nothing you can't handle I'm sure.

 

[Geoffers]

That’s a project and a half Jakko :surprised:

Looking forward to seeing you put it together :smiling3:

Geoff.

 

[Guest]

There's a lot in that ResiCast set.

There always is

I notice it's for a Tasca Sherman so might there be some fit issues?

Unlikely, as when Tasca went under for reasons unknown to me, they continued as Asuka The kits are exactly the same, all they did was replace the name — and even then you can encounter Asuka kits with instructions inside that say Tasca. Or their web shop, of course: https://tasca-shop.ocnk.net

That’s a project and a half Jakko :surprised:

I’ve built more involved ones Like I said, though, much of the base kit will be going straight into the spares box, so there’s less to build than it may look like at first. Still, more work than just building the Sherman III straight from the box, of course.

 

[Guest]

Watching with interest, I did attempt their SBG bridge, still sitting half built in a drawer somewhere. Anyway chair drawn up and ready to go...

 

[Jim R]

Unlikely, as when Tasca went under for reasons unknown to me, they continued as Asuka :smiling3:

I just can't keep up with where kits started and where they end up.

 

[Neil Merryweather]

Really looking forward to this one Jakko

 

[Guest]

I'll sit with my mentor so he can explain the finer points :nerd:

 

[scottie3158]

Jakko, chair pulled up will follow with interest.

 

[Guest]

I hope to finish the stuff I’m working on at the moment before 6 June, so I can start on this right away, but knowing myself, you’ll probably all be sitting on those chairs for a fair while longer …

I did attempt their SBG bridge, still sitting half built in a drawer somewhere.

Some years ago, I debated whether to buy that, or the IMA one. Settled for the latter, and then AFV Club announced theirs a few months later.

 

[Lee Drennen]

That’s a project and a half Jakko

You got that right WOW

 

[Lee Drennen]

I’m seated by JR on the other side of his mentor and overwhelmed at the same time

 

[Lee Drennen]

I just can't keep up with where kits started and where they end up

Keep talking like that Jim and people might think you’re old or something. Lol.

 

[vizenz]

I will be watching your build with great interest. I want to build one in 1/72 at some point and I'm excited to see what I can use from your research! :smiling5:

 

[Guest]

TBH, I haven’t really done much research into this at all … The plan, really, is to build it pretty much straight from the boxes, though chances are I’ll discover things that are incorrect and need fixing

 

[A_J_Rimmer]

That's certainly a very interesting project Jakko and I'll be watching with interest.

 

[Guest]

Now the M247 and P.34 are finished, I’ve finally started on the BARV. You know you have AMS when the very first thing you do with the very first part you remove from the sprue, is to cut bits away:

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This is necessary so that the Resicast superstructure will fit onto the Asuka upper hull. Here trial-fitted without glue:

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I also built the basic shape of the lower hull, to ensure it will fit correctly into the upper:

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This is not normally a problem with Asuka Shermans — things just fit as they should. But better safe than sorry.

 

[A_J_Rimmer]

Great start Jakko.

Now where's the popcorn....?

 

[Neil Merryweather]

I'm really looking forward to this

 

[Guest]

I continued work on the plastic hull:

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That is, I built the transmission housing (the nose) and glued it to the lower hull, then added the upper hull. The two pieces of plastic strip at the rear are because I’ve also been working on the resin superstructure to get it to fit, and it wants to skew to the left at the rear a little. The strips are there to hopefully guide it into its proper position, but I won’t know until the glue has fully dried, tomorrow.

So I went on to the wheels. They have a seam down the middle, which is far too big to represent the one that was there on the real thing, and in any case that would wear down soon enough on the real tank. You can scrape it off, as I’ve done lots of times, but I decided for this one to take the luxury option:

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My father’s shed, with his lathe. To put a wheel into it, I put a long M2 screw through the hole in the wheel, with a nut on the other side, tightened using a screwdriver and pliers because hand-tight is not tight enough:

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And then some turning later:

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Before and after:

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Once I found how far to turn the first wheel down (see the upper left number on the electronic display gizmo in the first lathe photo) I could just do all the others in one go rather than layer by layer. However, sometimes the chisel would bite into the wheel and stop it, requiring me to remove it, tighten the nut, and try again. Here’s the end result:

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Notice the one in the front, with the rim on one side. That one did not want to cooperate, so I eventually gave up and grabbed a thirteenth wheel from my spares box. I mean, it’s not like I’m wanting for them:

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And that’s without the two sets of alternative wheels you get in this kit!